HEAT MAPS AND SCAN PATHS: QUALITATIVE EYE-TRACKING EVIDENCE ON HOW THE QUR’AN IS MEMORIZED THROUGH READING

Abstract

The process of memorizing the Qur’an typically takes place through reading its printed version (mus’haf). The Qur’an is read word by word so that the process of recalling the memorized verses or chapters is done accurately and fluently. Memorizing the Qur’an may be a great challenge to non-Arabic speakers because of their lack of knowledge in the Arabic vocabulary and grammar; yet more and more non-Arabic speakers continue to memorize the Qur’an for various reasons. In order to scientifically investigate how non-Arabic speakers memorize the Qur’an, a reading experiment was conducted to achieve this aim. Sixty-four (21 Male, 43 Female) native speakers of Malay who have memorized a portion of the Qur’an (10 juzu’ and below) participated in this experiment. Using the Tobii TX300 eye-tracking machine, participants’ eye movements, as they read to memorize four verses of the Qur’an (two with and two without Malay translations), were tracked, and their gaze plots were analysed qualitatively (via heat maps and scan paths). Results show evidence that Malay non-Arabic speakers’ act of reading the Qur’an to memorize it went beyond what is usually known as “cramming”; instead, the process involved finding the meaning of unknown words, so that the process of recalling the memorized verses can be done accurately and fluently.
 
 Keywords: Cognitive processes, eye movements, memorization, psycholinguistics, Qur’an
 
 Cited as: Salehuddin, K., Shahimin, M. M., Sulaiman, M. Z., & Md Zolkapli, R. B. (2019). Heat maps and scan paths: Qualitative eye tracking evidence on how the Qur’an is memorized through reading. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 4(2), 318-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol4iss2pp318-334